Sunday, October 18, 2015

DENR supports W2W facility for Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for Field Operations Demetrio Ignacio has expressed his full support for the installation of a tailored-fit waste facility in Bonuan Gueset when he came over to the city on October 16.

Ignacio was invited by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez to help the city facilitate the legal requirements for the installation of the Waste-2-Worth (W2W) facility here when they both attended and represented the Philippines in the 2015 Nuestro Oceano International Conference in Chile.

W2W is a project of Procter and Gamble being supported by the Asian Development Bank and the U.S. State Department.

“This project will help the city solve its 50-year old garbage problem by converting the city’s wastes into biogas and diesel. And what is good about this is that the $8 million dollar facility will be built at no cost at all from the city," said Fernandez during her meeting with Ignacio and other DENR officials.

The mayor added: "We would not want to miss this opportunity, much as we do not want our children to grow with health problems caused by rotting garbage in our dumpsite."

According to the 2015 waste study, the city is producing around 29 tons of wastes per day while at the same time, the estimated uncollected wastes per day is about 16 tons.

The composition of the wastes collected by the city is largely organic which is about 38 percent while non-recyclable plastic comprises the second largest fraction which is 31 percent.

The budgeted amount has been insufficient for Dagupan City to dispose of its solid wastes at an existing facility or to establish and operate a waste disposal facility that complies with existing environmental laws. As a result, the city is unable to close the dumpsite near the beach where it has been disposing of its wastes for the past 50 years.

The annual cost of maintaining the dumpsite which includes Personal Services, Maintenance and Operating Expenses, and Capital Outlay averages around P24,791,031 yearly.

Undersecretary Ignacio assured the city that after 60 days, the city can proceed with the groundbreaking ceremony for the project without much delay.